Remembering the pound in a pint glass strip pubs of the East End

From pole-dancing ghosts to undercover lap dances, the East End’s obsolete strip pubs are loaded with peculiar histories

‘For me, watching strippers is observing erotic perfection…together with the £1 for any London bus journey, it is the best value £1 can buy,’ proclaims Dr Tuppy Owens in the introduction to ‘Baby Oil and Ice.’ 

The iconic photography book by Sarah Ainslie and Julie Cook captures the years when the stretch between Bethnal Green Road and Hackney Road was famous for its old-school ‘pound in a pint glass’ strip pubs. Often, punters would visit many of the strip pubs on the same night, in rowdy crawls across Hackney and Tower Hamlets. 

Some such venues had been open for nearly half a century before shutting. Combined gentrification and new sexual entertainment laws meant the majority shut down in the 2010s. 

Dr Tuppy’s beloved East End, where naked women danced in pubs in broad daylight and bus trips were only a pound, has since faded away. We’ve commemorated five of the most famous haunts below.

White Horse in Shoreditch 

The White Horse was arguably the beginning and end of the strip pub scene, a family-run business managed by three generations of matriarchs who lived upstairs. 

Speaking to the Gentle Author in 2011, the then landlady Sue Bristow said, ‘This pub is like my front room. It’s my home, isn’t it? I’ve been brought up in it, I’ve lived and breathed it.’

Bristow was known for a strict no-nonsense policy, a friendly relationship with her dancers, and an eye for talent. ‘I’ve been watching the dancers since I was fourteen, so I know who’s a good dancer,’ she told the Gentle Author. 

The White Horse was a favourite among dancers because the atmosphere was friendly and the girls were allowed to keep the majority of their earnings. It was also one of the few pubs that allowed women in as punters, not just dancers. 

When it shut down due to rising rents in 2016, the White Horse had been open for 38 years. To protest, the East London Strippers Collective held a funeral for Shoreditch, marching a fake bedazzled coffin with a stripper pole and a pint glass inside across the East End to the sound of live jazz. It was considered the definitive end of an era. 

The Spread Eagle in Shoreditch

Easily the most aptly named of the legendary strip pubs, The Spread Eagle is still standing as a pub, but is now known for Brazilian food and karaoke. In its heyday, the pub offered both public pound-in-a-pint strip shows and private backroom dances. 

The new management claims on Facebook that the pub was first registered in 1604, but is believed to be much older, making it one of Shoreditch’s longest-standing pubs. 

Some say the Spread Eagles is also haunted by a ghost. The new management told the story: 

‘Local legend has it that the landlord was in a relationship with one of the girls and became very jealous one evening as she chatted to a customer, so much so that when she took to the pole, he, in a fit of rage, shot her dead.

‘Locals say the pole used to be in the back, left corner (where the love heart sits now) and that, sometimes, you can feel her presence there.’

Ye Olde Axe on Hackney Road

The infamous Ye Olde Axe was one of the most resilient of the strip pubs. The venue stayed open until 2022, when a violation of COVID regulations dealt the final blow. 

Dancers were found not to be appropriately socially distancing during private lap dances, and the Council didn’t renew the pub’s sexual entertainment license. Residents who had been complaining about the pub for years were happy to hear the news. 

Built in the late 1850s, the elaborate building is now Grade II listed. Initially a normal public house, Ye Olde Axe fell into disrepair in the 1950s and was renovated and reopened in 1979. During the renovation, two skeletons were found while digging foundations, alongside a pair of rusty scissors, leading to rumours of hauntings in the modern age. 

Once Ye Olde Axe was back open for business, it became a strip pub, decked out with ornate trimmings and lots of leather seating. One blogger visiting Ye Olde Axe in 2012 said, ‘If you take the time to look past the spattering of naked girls and men in baggy trousers, the inside of the bar’s actually pretty amazing. The decor is literally Dickensian.’

Today, Ye Olde Axe is still shuttered, with no word as to whether another grand re-opening might be on the cards. 

Nags Head in Aldgate 

The most recent of the old strip pubs to close, the Nags Head was denied a renewal of its sexual entertainment license in September 2025 after 299 residents objected to the reopening. 

Residents living near the Aldgate pub complained of the proximity to schools, homes and religious buildings. However, the majority of the objections had been made on moral grounds and were considered invalid. In the end, Councillors still voted against the renewal. 

The Nags Head originally shut after undercover officers visiting the pub in August of 2022 found that the dancers violated no-touching rules and attempted sexual acts. The very thorough inspection involved both officers receiving two private lap dances each, at a total cost of over £500. 

Before shutting, the Nags Head had been open as a strip pub for over 45 years, making it one of the East End’s most stubborn sexual entertainment venues. 

Browns in Shoreditch

Browns in Shoreditch is miraculously still running as a strip pub after over 40 years of business. Located on Shoreditch’s main junction, Browns is a family-run establishment, managed by matriarch and Hackney local Denise Chandler. In the 2010s, Chandler campaigned against Hackney Council’s crusade against sexual entertainment venues. 

Despite being a full nudity strip pub, Browns was known for not being especially rowdy or seedy, and it might be for this reason that the pub survives to this day. 

In December 2020, Browns was taken to court as part of a landmark case on the working rights of strippers. Sonia Nowak, a Polish stripper working in the East End, successfully contested Browns’ claim that she was an independent contractor and therefore not entitled to rights such as holiday pay.

If you liked this, read How the East End has inspired the greats of British street photographers